Gildar and the Warrior Princess
by BlueJay026
Summary: Civil war is raging. Planets are being destroyed. Ninjas are training alchemists to be Jedis. No one is completely safe. And in the midst of it all, a certain hair-flipping viking falls in love with a specific kilted warrior. Great timing, huh?
1. The Imprisoned Princess

**A/N: Hey guys! So, remember that poll I put up a few weeks ago? Well, the choice with the most votes was "something with Gildar and Ballista as the two main characters," so here's the beginning of the story for it. (And hopefully, I'll get those other stories up soon, as well.) Hope you don't mind it's a Star Wars parody. Han Solo and Princess Leia remind me a little bit of Gildar and Ballista, so that's mainly why I decided to do it.**

**But before we get started, let me first tell you that there are some things in the Star Wars universe I'll keep the same and some things I'll change. I'm keeping the names of Jedi, Death Star, and the Force. I'll also be using a few direct quotes from the movie. On another note, the names of planets and most of the villains will be changed, and the plot will probably be a little different from the original trilogy, so...yeah.**

**Just to let you know ahead of time, updates will probably be very slow. Depends on how the upcoming days go, I guess.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Splatalot. Or Star Wars. (But apparently, Disney does now. They're planning on making another movie or something. Correct me if I'm wrong.)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Sir, she's unbreakable."

The tall man dressed in dark colors turned around to look at his henchman. "Unbreakable?" he inquired, his brown eyes sparkling with curiosity.

The henchman, whose occupation was tormenting prisoners, shook his head exasperatedly. "I've tried everything! I've cut her, whipped her, and even struck her a few times with a mace! But she's just not giving in!"

The tormentor glanced to the side, humiliated. Avoiding looking his leader in the eyes, the man covered in armor added, "Harkin, I don't know what else to do. She just won't crack."

Harkin frowned as he ran a hand through his aging strawberry-blond hair. He looked out through the window at space thoughtfully.

"We'll see about that," he muttered to himself. Turning back to the trooper in dull armor, he ordered, "Send her in."

"Yes, sir," the tormentor replied before walking away.

When the henchman was gone, Harkin took a deep breath and cast his gaze back to the window. "Time to take drastic measures, I suppose..."

Five minutes later, Harkin saw the tormentor reenter the chamber. Behind him marched Harkin's masked master, Darth Dirkson, or just Dirkson. Strutting close beside him was the blonde-haired, steel-blue-eyed princess. Despite the slashes across her strong arms, upper part of her back, face, and the dark bruises scattered in between the thousand cuts, she looked as unshaken and as fierce as ever.

The henchmen watching her highness walk in the chamber bravely and spiritedly practically backed away from her in amazement. Her eyes shone with a bright determination that not even the flames of a dragon could outshine.

The kilted huntress kept a steely gaze locked on Harkin. She allowed herself to briefly smirk when she saw a look of surprise on his face. Harkin noticed this, and quickly recomposed himself.

Dirkson and the wounded warrior stopped in front of the brown-eyed villain, who cleared his throat.

"Welcome back, princess," he greeted coldly, straightening up.

Ballista gave a him curt nod. "Hey, Harkin," she replied in an equally icy but undeniably confident tone. "Seriously, was that interrogation session you call "torment" the best you could do?"

The warrior princess shot an arrogant, mocking look at her tormentor, turning his face red with anger and embarrassment.

Harkin glanced at her hands cuffed behind her back. Ignoring her comment, he asked, "Are you in any pain?"

Ballista smirked. "Only when I see your hideous outfit."

"Charming, aren't you?" he replied, covering his irritation with amusement.

The princess stared back at him without any traces of other emotions besides smugness.

"And courageous," Harkin admitted, beginning to slowly pace around the room. "More courageous and even stronger than most men I've seen in my lifetime."

Ballista laughed. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Because of that," he continued, "I've realized that pain isn't enough to get through to you. So..." Harkin arrested his feet and stared into Ballista's bright eyes. "...Perhaps you would respond to an alternative form of persuasion?"

Ballista raised an eyebrow.

Harkin slowly walked over to the princess. "As you are probably aware, the Death Star is incredibly powerful. But how powerful is it, exactly? Well, I'll gladly show you. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have decided that we will test this space station's destructive power on your home planet...Celtia."

Alarmed, the kilted warrior's face lit up as her eyes softened, but only for a moment. She quickly re-hardened her expression.

"My patience is wearing extremely thin, princess," Harkin growled, nearing Ballista's face. "So this will be the final time I'll ask you this question. Where is the Rebel base?"

The huntress removed her steady gaze from Harkin and set it on the large window in the center of the chrome wall. Through it, she could see the beautiful forest green and ocean blue colored planet of Celtia being put in firing range. Ballista took a deep but subtle breath.

She knew that she couldn't betray the Rebels so easily, even if her own people were on the line. The Rebels were the key to freeing the galaxy. But she didn't want to lose her family, either. If she chose her family, she would lose her freedom. But if she chose her freedom, she would lose her family. There was no compromise.

Or was there?

A moment later, Ballista let out a fake sigh. "...Rordnai." The princess glanced at Harkin before hanging her head. "They're on Rordnai."

Harkin smirked to himself. "There. You see, Master Dirkson, she can be reasonable." He looked over at his loyal troopers seated by the controls. "Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready."

Ballista's cool exterior immediately evaporated. "What?!"

"You're far too trusting," the reddish-blond replied coolly. "Rordnai is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don't worry, we will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough."

Ballista violently started forward, only to be held back by Dirkson. "You are so lucky I'm bound!" she snarled, baring her teeth.

Harkin chuckled, then turned back to the large window and folded his hands behind his back. The huntress tried shaking Dirkson's hand from her shoulder, but to no avail. The princess pushed away her angry, horrified emotions as she silently sighed. Recomposing herself, she bravely looked up at her home planet, dreading what would happen next.

In a matter of moments, there was a bright beam of green light, a huge explosion, and the next thing Ballista found herself staring at was thousands of pieces of matter flying in all directions.

Silence fell.

"Such a shame," Harkin commented a minute later. "It was such a nice planet. Its kingdom-your kingdom, I should say- has been around for many centuries. But now..." He looked at the Celtian princess. "Now it's gone. Along with your entire family. You'll never see them again."

Taking a deep breath, the kilted warrior slowly set her gaze back on Harkin. He scanned it for any signs of pain, but failed to detect anything.

"I know," Ballista replied in a voice as cold as ice.

Harkin was taken aback at her seemingly calm attitude. In reality, though, it took the huntress every ounce of strength and control she could muster to restrain her true emotions from erupting to the surface.

The villain recovered from his surprise, then waved his hand dismissingly. "I've had enough of this one. Throw her back in her cell."

Dirkson nodded. He began to march away, yanking Ballista's strong arms in the process. She stumbled, but quickly regained her balance and strutted along.

Darth Dirkson led his blonde prisoner through the chrome halls and down the metallic stairs, ending up in the high-tech, dungeon-like area. The huntress didn't bother to make any eye contact with the troopers they passed.

Eventually, Ballista's escort stopped at Cell 23. He located its panel, typed in a series of numbers, and the metallic doors slid open.

A few troopers aimed their blasters at the young warrior as Dirkson removed her steel bonds. Afterwards, he "force-pushed" Ballista into the cold cell, resulting in her faceplanting the stony floor. The henchmen watching laughed at her, then watched the surly Dirkson re-shut the chrome doors. He locked it in place, and with a flap of his black cape, he was gone.

When she could hear her enemies no more, Ballista took a deep breath. It was then that all her physical pain began to pound on her steely nerves. The huntress cringed at the sudden sharp pains surging virtually everywhere throughout her body, then quickly scanned the dim room. She found a chrome bench sticking out from the wall across from her, then dragged her aching body to it.

Ballista sighed a breath of relief as she lied down on top of the freezing metal. Though it was uncomfortable, the cold temperature was able to sooth her sore, bleeding injuries. She folded her hands across her stomach and breathed in and out deeply. Finally, she had some peace.

A moment later, the princess smiled. She had endured the whole interrogation session without falling apart. Not one tear from her eyes was shed, nor did a whimper ever sound from her mouth. The huntress was proud of being hardcore.

Slowly, however, her victorious smile fell into a regretful frown.

Ballista sat up, wincing at the stinging pains in her upper back and shoulders. That delayed, icy feeling of horror began to flood throughout her chest as she recalled the final hours of her people. It was then that she fully realized that her family was gone; completely and utterly destroyed.

Harkin's sinister voice rang throughout her head. _"You'll **never** see them again."_

The princess swallowed hard when her throat tightened. Memories of her family, friends, and fellow Senate members began to occupy her mind among visions of Celtia's beautiful forest climates. The longer she thought about her planet and its people..._her_ people...the more she felt her heart ache.

Ballista sighed as she hung her head. The princess drew in a deep, slightly shaky breath and shut her eyes. A moment later, she felt streams of warm water rolling down her cheeks. The warrior opened her eyes to see her sorrow-filled tears splash violently upon the metallic ground.

* * *

**A/N: I based the word Celtia off of Celtic. I'm not exactly sure what Celtia or Celtian means if they're real words at all.**

**Anyways, have a good night!**


	2. The Discovery

A few hours after Ballista had been thrown back into her cell, the droid that she had put the plans of the Death Star into had landed on the Rebel base. When the Rebels had tried hacking into it, they discovered the hologram of the warrior princess asking for someone to deliver the droid to her father. The leader of the Rebels, Knightriss, sent a few of her troops to take the droid to Celtia, confident that the Senator would let them know what the little robot was holding.

However, the four troops headed for Celtia got themselves into a serious predicament. Not long after discovering that Celtia had been destroyed, the _Millennium Seahawk_ got itself caught in the Death Star's tractor beam. When it was pulled into the space station's hangar bay, Imperial forces were ordered to search it.

Darth Dirkson watched with his arms crossed as six of his henchmen entered the large ship, wondering who was onboard. He was almost sure it was related to the Rebels, but he knew better than to jump to conclusions right away.

The villain scanned the ship carefully, unimpressed with its structure. What kind of captain would be proud flying that thing? It was a piece of junk!

A few minutes later, all the Imperial troopers marched down the metallic boarding ramp, shutting the ship's door behind them. As five of them positioned themselves in a straight line, one of them marched up to Darth Dirkson.

"There's no one on board, sir," he reported. "According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been ejected."

"Did you find any droids?" the masked villain inquired.

The trooper shook his head. "No, sir. If there were any on board, they must also have abandoned the ship."

Darth Dirkson's eyes narrowed underneath his mask. "Send a scanning crew on board. I want every part of this ship checked."

"Yes, sir," the trooper replied, bowing respectfully.

Darth Dirkson looked up at the ship for a moment. "I sense something...a presence I haven't felt since..." The villain cut himself off, then turned around and quickly left the hangar.

Meanwhile, back on the ship...

"All clear!" chimed a young female voice.

The four hidden Rebels immediately emerged from the secret compartments underneath the ship's main corridor.

"Good thing we had these things installed," the red and gold viking muttered, flipping his hair.

"No kidding," the blue alchemist commented in the compartment behind him.

"Ugh, I really hate small spaces!" the barbarian next to Gildar cried.

Shaiden climbed out of the hidden compartment with Thorne close behind. After Skabb and Gildar were out of theirs, the blue alchemist groaned loudly.

"This is just great. First we learn that Celtia is completely destroyed, then we're pulled right into the Death Star. How can things get any worse?"

Gildar shrugged. "Well, they could cut off my hair and then kill us."

Thorne glared darkly at the viking, who suddenly realized that the alchemist wasn't asking for his opinion.

"Don't worry, guys," Shaiden replied. "I can take care of the tractor beam."

Everyone looked at the young Jedi Master.

"Are you sure, little girl?" Skabb asked.

The ninja bore her teeth at the barbarian, making him take a step back. However, Shaiden's face gradually softened as she took a deep, calm breath. "Yes. I'm sure."

Suddenly, the Rebels heard the sound of marching boots and clanging silver outside the ship.

"Guys, they're coming back!" Thorne announced.

"Alright, back in the compartments," Shaiden ordered. "I've got a plan..."

* * *

No sooner had the Rebels disappeared underneath the main corridor, the door to the ship re-opened. Shaiden listened carefully to the pattern of the footsteps. When they had pased over her and the alchemist next to her, she lightly tapped on the metal wall twice, indicating to Skabb and Gildar that two Imperial troopers had entered the ship.

The Rebels quietly emerged from their hiding place. Shaiden stepped past her companions and sneaked past the entrance of the cockpit corridor, then followed the trooper walking to the ship's main hold.

Swiftly and silently, the ninja ran behind her opponent. She threw a series of attacks in the same manner, taking him out. She smirked after he had fallen to the floor, then dashed back to her fellow Rebels. When she stopped besides the entrance to the cockpit access corridor, she gave Skabb a thumbs-up.

Skabb smiled evilly, then stealthily began making his way down that corridor. He carefully sneaked up behind the Imperial henchman, then yelled-

"HAVE LOTS OF FEAR, SKABB IS HERE!"

The knightly trooper let out a terrified scream and whirled around - only to have his forehead meet the blunt end of Skabb's Basher Masher. The barbarian laughed as his opponent fell to the ground.

"SKABB RULES!"

The Rebels quickly rejoined the barbarian. After Shaiden asked why Skabb couldn't have taken the guard out without yelling, the cocky viking handed him a blaster.

"Next time, just use this," he advised.

Skabb took the weapon into his strong hands and looked it over. He nodded at Gildar, then smacked the Imperial troop in the back of the head with the hard tip of the gun.

"Hey, what's going on up there?"

The Defenders turned their attention to the end of the corridor. They all could hear someone running up the boarding ramp. The blue alchemist pushed Gildar's co-pilot aside.

"Move out of the way, Skabby, this one's mine!" he hissed, gripping the handle of his Mulching Mace.

"Thorne, you should really use a blaster!" Gildar whispered loudly.

Thorne ignored him, then disappeared around the corner with a steely look in his eyes. Skabb and Gildar visibly winced when they heard the loud clang of Thorne's mace make brutal contact with the front of the trooper's fortunately helmeted head.

The armored man crumpled to the metal floor besides the alchemist's heavy boots. Thorne nodded with satisfaction, then turned to see his companions approaching him.

"Nice work, Thorne," Shaiden complimented.

Thorne nodded. As the ninja scanned the Imperial trooper over, she suddenly came up with an idea. After she gathered all the unconscious troopers together, she pulled the silver helmet off of one of them and tossed it Gildar. "Put on their armor and we'll get going."

The viking observed the silver helmet in his hands. "Wouldn't they be able to tell that we're not one of them?"

Skabb retrieved the helmet from his victim and quickly put it over his head. He awkwardly adjusted it a bit. "Not with these things on; I can barely see anything!"

Gildar looked down at his helmet hesitantly. If he put it on, he wouldn't be able to see his handsome reflection.

"Gildar, just put it on!" the ninja ordered, handing Thorne a pair of metallic shinguards.

The viking grumbled, then reluctantly pulled it over his dark hair. Thorne looked over at the ninja as she grabbed a gun from the motionless hands of an Imperial trooper.

"Oy, Shaiden, don't you need any armor?" the alchemist inquired, strapping on the second shinguard.

Shaiden handed the gun to her apprentice while shooting him a smirk. "I'll be fine. Remember that I can hide well in the shadows." She hopped back into one of the secret compartments. "I'll get the droid. It won't be safe if we leave it here."

* * *

"That was way too easy," Thorne commented ten minutes later, removing his helmet.

Shaiden shut the door to the command office they had managed to enter. "Good, 'cause that was just the beginning. Things just get harder from here."

Skabb yanked his helmet off with a roar. "I hate accessories!"

Gildar took his helmet off and flipped his hair. "Wow, it's really hot under there." He paused, then smiled arrogantly. "Probably because I'm always on fire."

Skabb made a face.

"Keep the armor on," Shaiden said. "You'll still need the disguise to get out of here."

"Unless they kill us, first," the ninja's apprentice muttered.

"Always a ray of sunshine," she replied sarcastically under her breath. Taking a quick look around, the ninja found the room's computer. She walked over to it, motioning for her apprentice to follow. "Thorne, help me find where the main controls for the tractor beam is."

The alchemist nodded, set his gun down, then joined his Jedi Master by the computer. After easily hacking through the security panel, he pulled up a map of the space station. He ran his eyes over the many neon green lines and shapes illuminating from the dark screen.

"Right here," Thorne said a minute later, pointing to a specific part of the map.

Shaiden studied the sceen for a moment, then confidently nodded. "Got it."

"Hey guys, check it out!"

Everyone turned towards the barbarian. Skabb had just found a hidden compartment in the white wall, and it was filled with all sorts of weapons. He picked up a large gun.

"Whoa, check this baby out!" he cried.

Ignoring Skabb's latest discovery, Shaiden said, "I don't think there's much else you three can do at this point. While I turn off the tractor beam, I want you to stay here and stay hidden."

Gildar frowned. "Who put you in charge?"

Shaiden frowned back. "Knightriss. So stay here and stay hidden."

There was an edge in Shaiden's tone that made Gildar decide not to argue any further.

"Can't I come with you?" the alchemist inquired.

The Jedi-ninja shook her head. "Not this time. I need you to look after the droid. And you aren't skilled enough to use your splatsaber yet."

Gildar and Skabb snickered, recalling how bad Thorne had done in his training on the way to Celtia. Shaiden's apprentice glared at them.

"Oh yeah, like you could have done any better!" he snarled in reply.

Gildar smirked, and Skabb laughed a bit more. Thorne's eyes hardened, but he didn't say anything else. A moment later, the barbarian moved his gaze to the Jedi.

"Shaiden, do you need a gun?" he asked.

The ninja wrapped her hand around the weapon strapped to her belt. "No, I prefer using my splatsaber."

Skabb shrugged and turned back to the stockpile. "If you're sure, little Jedi."

Shaiden's eyes narrowed. She felt a strong urge to "force-choke" the barbarian, but she quickly pushed the thought away. Turning back to Thorne, she noticed that he was glaring at the floor. His face was a little downcast with discouragement. Shaiden put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at her.

"Be patient, Thorne," she advised gently. "You're not ready now, but someday you'll be a Jedi Master. I know you've got what it takes."

Thorne breathed in deeply, then nodded. Shaiden removed her hand from his shoulder, then began to walk to the door. After opening it, she looked back at Thorne and held her hand up. "May the Force be with you."

With that, the Force-sensitive ninja disappeared behind the sliding door. Immediately afterwards, Gildar sat himself down on a chair and pulled out his little red mirror. He smiled at his reflection.

"Hello again, Gorgeous. It's been too long since we've last met."

Thorne rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother..."

Skabb nodded, disgusted, then went back to searching through the storage unit. Thorne took a quick glance around him, wondering what he could do to amuse himself until Shaiden returned. It wasn't long until he marched back to the large computer. He positioned himself on the chair in front of it, then proceeded to busy himself by looking at all the files and applications he could find.

A minute later, the alchemist jerked himself up from the chair. "Skabb, Gildar, come look at this!"

The viking didn't move his eyes away from his mirror. "What?"

"You guys need to check this out!"

Skabb dropped the tazor he was holding and joined Thorne by the computer. Gildar shot his reflection a smile, then reluctantly put his mirror away. Afterwards, he walked over to his fellow Rebels.

"What's so important?" he inquired, putting his hands on his hips.

Thorne glanced at him. "It's the princess! She's here!"

Skabb's eyes widened. Gildar, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow.

"What princess?"

Both Skabb and Thorne blinked, then turned around and stared at the viking. The alchemist's mouth was partly open even before he began to speak again.

"What do you mean "what princess"?"

The viking shrugged. "What princess are you talking about?"

Skabb frowned. "You know, the one from Celtia? The one whose planet just got destroyed?"

Gildar stared back at the two blankly.

"We were just delivering her father the plans to the Death Star," Thorne added, feeling a tinge of annoyance.

The viking paused. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Didn't you see her on the hologram?" Skabb asked, also a little frustrated with the viking's ignorance.

Gildar shrugged. "I must have been too busy looking at my reflection."

Thorne gave the viking a "you have got to be kidding me" look. He groaned and shook his head, then located the Celtian droid. After he strategically hid it, he retrieved the weapon he had set down a few minutes ago.

"Come on," he ordered, marching over to the office's door. "Let's go get 'er."

"Thorne, wait a minute!" Gildar called. "Shaiden said to stay here and stay hidden, remember?"

"What, are you scared?" the alchemist snarled, turning around. "Look, Shaiden didn't know she was here. And if she did, she would agree that we need to rescue her."

"Why?"

"Because she's our last option to unlocking the droid, that's why! And if we wait until Shaiden gets back, it might be too late; she's scheduled to be terminated."

The viking's eyes seemed to glint with slight concern.

"I think Thorne's right," the barbarian said. "We've gotta go help her. How else are we gonna get that droid unlocked? If she was the one who sent it, then she must know how to unlock it."

Gildar flipped his hair and stared at the floor in thought. A moment later, he took a deep breath, then gave his Rebel friends a nod. "Alright. Fine."

Thorne nodded. "That's the spirit. Now let's get going."

As his two companions walked towards the door, the viking pulled out his mirror and stared at his reflection. "At least she'll be forever grateful," he commented with a smile.


	3. They Meet

**A/N: I apologize that I haven't updated in a while! Hopefully, I'll get something else up sooner than it took to get this chapter up!  
**

* * *

"Gildar, we're gonna have company!"

Gildar glanced behind him in the direction of Thorne's voice. He and Skabb were dashing down the hall of the dungeon, with the barbarian a few meters behind the viking. Skabb had also looked back, and there was an undesicive expression on his face. A few seconds later, he glanced at Gildar before making a u-turn.

"Gildar, you keep going!" he cried. "I'll help Thorne!"

"Alright!" Gildar cried as he ventured onward toward the prison cells.

Skabb took a right turn, then met up with Thorne at the end of the corridor. The blue-streaked Rebel glared at him as he adjusted the positioning of the gun in his hands.

"This is exactly why spies shouldn't scream 'Skabb rules' when they're freeing a princess," he growled.

Skabb gave Thorne a look, then knelt down at the other end of the hall's frame. The two stared intently out into the control room, their eyes narrowed and bright with determination, then waited...

When the doors to the control room slid open, over twenty Imperial troops flowed through. Immediately, the firing began.

"Rain of Thorne!" the mohawked-warrior cried.

"AAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!" Skabb screamed.

Meanwhile, Gildar had made it to Cell 23. The viking was scanning the metallic door, trying to figure out how to get inside. Before long, he decided that he would use his superior viking strength to break the door down.

Gildar put himself in a stance. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, then, with a yell, ran at the silver door. He slammed himself hard into it - and fell to the ground immediately afterwards.

Inside the prison cell, Ballista, who had been alseep, had woken with a start. Carefully listening, she could hear the loud explosions of firing blasters. She narrowed an eye, then slowly pushed herself up.

_What's going on?  
_  
Outside, Gildar was busy cringing and rubbing his sore side. He groaned to himself.

_Well, that didn't work.  
_  
The viking surveyed the metallic door again, then noticed that there was a security panel to the left of it. Shaking off the pain in his left side, left arm, and the slight feeling of humiliation in his chest, he whipped out the blaster attached to his recently bought belt.

The red and gold Rebel aimed at the panel and fired. It exploded, resulting in the metallic door sliding open. Gildar waved the swirling smoke from his face as best as he could, then dashed inside the cell.

Gildar emerged from the cloud of thick smoke with his eyes shut, coughing and waving more smoke away. He then announced between multiple heaves for fresh air, (only for his lungs to be filled with more of the vaporized grime, thus making him cough), "The mighty - Gildar - has ar - arrived!"

Ballista stared at him as he continued coughing, unsure exactly how to respond. Before she could comment in any way, the smoke had cleared away completely, and the viking slowly straightened up. He took a deep breath of clean(er) air before he spoke again.

"Okay, your Highness," he said, opening his eyes and quickly glancing at her, "you're free, now we've really got to..." Gildar blinked, then turned his full attention to the princess. He completely lost his train of thought as he stared at her beautiful face outlined with her glimmering blonde hair and radiated by her sparkling steel-blue eyes.

His jaw gradually dropped as he continued to gaze at her. "Whoa..."

The huntress crossed her strong arms and hardened her expression. Nevertheless, the viking still approached her to get a better look at her face. After another moment, he smiled at her in an impressed yet cocky sort of way.

"You know, I don't meet that many people who are almost as gorgeous as me."

Ballista glared at him. "Oh, please; I'm sure if you look hard enough, you'll realize that's not too hard to do."

Gildar tilted his head a bit, slightly taken aback at her sassy remark. Suddenly, a loud explosion from outside grabbed both his and Ballista's attention.

"This way, princess!" the red and gold Rebel cried, running for the door.

The huntress dashed after Gildar and out the prison cell. The viking attempted to lead the princess to the dungeon's exit, but she already seemed to know where to go.

After taking a few turns, the duo found themselves in the middle of the fight with Skabb and Thorne.

"It's about time you showed up!" Thorne yelled over the blasting. "Now help us push these losers back!"

"Alright, what's the plan?" the huntress asked.

Skabb and Gildar looked at each other, then over at Thorne. The alchemist gritted his teeth as a red bolt of energy nearly shaved off his mohawk.

"Stay alive!" he screamed.

Ballista crossed her arms, ignoring the lasers flying past her. "Well, this is some rescue," she sarcastically commented. "You three infiltrated the Death Star to rescue me, yet failed to make up an escape plan?"

"And you're welcome," Gildar replied with an award-winning smile, earning an unimpressed look from the princess. A laser beam suddenly tore by the viking's hair, making him jump and drop his gun. "Ahh!"

The huntress rolled her eyes, then slid under the next glowing red beam and grabbed Gildar's gun from the floor. With a whirl, she was up on her feet again and taking aim. Clenching her teeth and fiercely narrowing her eyes, she fired.

"I've got 'em," she said, moving in front of Gildar. "You just stay behind me."

Gildar frowned indignantly. "Hey, now wait just a minute!" He stepped besides her. "That's not how it works! You're the damsel in distress, I do the rescuing!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ballista replied, flipping back her blonde hair. "Leave the shooting to the huntress, pretty boy."

Gildar was about to say something else when another beam flew past him, making him jump. Realizing that he couldn't defend himself without a gun, and that he wouldn't get his back, he groaned and reluctantly moved behind Skabb.

The onslaught continued for about another minute.

"There's too many of them!" Skabb yelled.

"Oh, ya think?" Ballista hissed back.

The princess delivered another shot to an unfortunate trooper and quickly scanned the area. When she located a large grate, she fired at it, creating a large hole in the in the wall.

"What are you doing?!" Gildar demanded.

"Everyone in there!" Ballista shouted.

With that, the Celtian princess hopped through the hole and slid down wherever it led to. Thorne glanced skeptically at the hole, then delivered a few more shots to the enemy. Afterwards, he dashed for it and followed Ballista down the chute.

Skabb glanced at the hesitant viking between a few shots. "Gildar, in!"

Gildar took another step closer to the hole, then wrinkled his nose immediately after. "But it smells terrible!"

"Oh really? Guess what, I DON'T CARE! NOW GET IN THERE!"

"But-"

"Skabb Rule #2: ALWAYS DO WHAT SKABB SAYS OR SKABB WILL SMACK YOU!"

The viking groaned. "Alright, fine!"

Gildar looked down the hole again, cringed, and finally jumped in. Skabb shot down a few more troops, then cried out-

"SKABB RULES! HA HA!"

With that, the barbarian bounded backwards, leapt into the hole, and slid down the dark chute, having no idea where he would end up.


	4. Unhappy Ninja-Jedi-Master

"AAAAGGGGHHHHH!"

Skabb tumbled out the chute and landed with a large splash into a dark sea of wreckage. Seconds later, he emerged from the water and gasped for air. He rubbed the water out of his eyes, then found a smile spreading over is face.

"WOO, THAT WAS FUN!"

As soon as his eyes adjusted to the dark lighting, he found Thorne, Gildar, and Ballista standing a few yards away from him.  
"Where are we?" he asked.

"I think we're in a trash heap," Thorne replied, glancing at the pieces of metal and wires submerged or floating in the dirty sea.

Gildar had his hands raised above the wreckage in disgust. "Agh, this is awful! This filthy water is messing up my gorgeous hair!"

Ballista groaned and glared at the red and gold Rebel. "Could you do us all a favor and just shut up?"

Gildar blinked out of surprise, then returned the glare. "Look, your Highness, If hadn't been for _your _intervention, my hair would still be strikingly gorgeous instead of just plain handsome right now! We had everything under control without your help, thank you very much!"

The Celtian snorted. "Yeah, Imperial troops shooting nonstop and alerting the entire station of my escape, you REALLY had everything under control."

Gildar crossed his arms. "Are you giving me sass, princess?"

Ballista placed her hands on her hips and stared at the viking in a challenging way. "Does that bother you, pretty boy?"

Gildar started forward. "Alright, you know what-"

"Will you two just shut it?" Thorne cried, slapping down hard on the water. "This will not help us get out of here! Now quit your bickering and start thinking!"

Gildar and Ballista both shot each other another look, then reluctantly backed off. Thorne pinched the bridge of his nose, then asked, "Alright, does anyone have any ideas on how to get out of here?"

The group took a careful look around.

"Well, the exit's right there," Ballista declared, pointing at a door.

Everyone looked in the direction Ballista was pointing in, then quickly crowded around the door. Skabb tried opening it, but found that it was sealed shut.

"It's locked," he announced.

"We can see that," Ballista replied coldly, crossing her arms.

Gildar groaned in disgust. "Great. Now how are we gonna get it open?"

Skabb turned and smirked at the blue-streaked Rebel. "Why don't you just use the Force, Master Thorne?"

Thorne glared at him.

Suddenly, the door flew wide open, flooding the trash heap with a bright light and making the quartet squint.

"Who did that?" Gildar wondered aloud, shielding his eyes.

Ballista quickly leapt out of the garbage-infested sea. Gildar climbed out second, and Skabb third. When Thorne stepped outside, he was greeted with a brutal slap to the cheek. Wincing in pain, he turned to see Shaiden glaring at him.

"I thought I told you to stay behind in the control unit!" she yelled, putting her hands on her hips.

Thorne pushed away the urge to flinch at his master's tone as he rubbed his stinging face. He dared not look her directly in the eyes. "Yeah, I know, but-"

Shaiden intensified her glare, making Thorne wonder if she was going to slap him again. "You let the entire Death Star know that we're here! You are _so_ lucky that neither of you idiots were killed!"

"I reassure you, I knew what I was doing," Thorne replied.

"Oh really?" Shaiden snapped. "I've seen Jawas with better strategies!"

Gildar and Skabb were both glad that they weren't Shaiden's apprentice.

"But we rescued the princess," Thorne muttered in his defense, barely gesturing to the Celtian. "See?"

Shaiden rolled her eyes and turned to the blonde huntress, who was cringing at her; not out of fear, but out of disgust. Cocking an eyebrow, the ninja asked, "What?"

"Well, it's just...that outfit is hideous. I mean, a brown robe with a blue jumpsuit? Seriously?"

Shaiden glared at the princess for what seemed to be a long time to the onlookers. Turning back to Thorne, she said, "I'm thrilled."

A pause.

"Anyways, shouldn't we be getting out of here?" Ballista asked.

"Glad to see that _someone_ has commen sense," Shaiden muttered, shooting a look at her apprentice.

"I was just about to suggest that," the viking said, flipping his hair.

Shaiden turned violently to Gildar. "Shut it."

Gildar quickly looked away, regretting that he had said something. The blue ninja then nodded towards the end of the corridor. "This way."

Skabb and Gildar looked up at Thorne as the Jedi marched ahead. Taking this as a plea for him to go first, he took a deep breath and quickly followed after her.

Shaiden said nothing as Thorne marched closely beside her. She kept her eyes on the path straight ahead, creating an even more awkward silence for her companion. Thorne glanced at the wall to his right, hesitating.

"You turned off the tractor beam, right?" he finally asked.

"Of course I did," the blue ninja retorted.

Thorne inwardly flinched at her tone. Normally, he was the one in a bad mood, but this time, she was the one in a _really_ bad mood. Was she really that upset that he had disobeyed her? They rescued Princess Ballista for goodness' sake! That was a huge accomplishment!

The Rebel beside the Jedi suddenly noticed that there was a cut alongside her right arm, and it looked a little burnt. His eyes lit up with concern.

"Shaiden, your arm-"

"It's nothing," she interrupted. "Just got into a slight struggle."

Then, to herself, she added, _With my former master._


End file.
